Stormwolf.com

I’m not going to name any names, but as we move into the digital era, there is a spurious argument that gets brought up from time to time by authors who really ought to know better. It pretty much points out that a) most of us are not good dollars & cents kinds of folks […]

The latest issue of The Secrets newsletter is up and available for subscribers. In this issue I go through all the parameters of how to create a likable character—someone the readers warm to fairly quickly and consistently. It’s one of the toughest things to do in fiction, and writers always run the risk of becoming […]

Yes, I am an Apple enthusiast. I’ve worked on a Mac since 1987 and am typing this on my 9th Macintosh computer. (All but two of the older ones still run and are in use at various tasks around the house.) I have bought/obtained five iPods, all of which still work. I even owned both […]

I think the closest physical activity analog to editing is interval training. You cruise along for a while, then there’s a frenzy of activity. In editing, that activity is often like running up a very steep hill. It’s not really that big a hill, but the effort is exhausting and you have to keep going. […]

I’m not sure why, but I learn a lot of personal lessons when playing sports. I played coed indoor soccer for the Gunners today and started in the goal. I’d played the other team before, and they had some good players—some guys who shot hard. In fact, one of the first shots I actually got […]

I am not referring to the rainstorms lashing Arizona, though I could be. Weird thing, rainstorms in a desert. Having grown up in New England, I’m used to rain. The ground usually soaks it in. Not here. The ground is like adobe brick, so the water sheets off. Now I enjoy hydroplaning down the highway […]

There seems to be a bit of confusion about agents among writers, and some anxiety that’s cropped up because of a Wall Street Journal article that talks about the state of the publishing industry and their reluctance to look at any submissions coming in without an agent being the source. The article suggests that what […]